Absorbent articles, such as taped diapers or pant diapers, for example, may be manufactured by a process where discrete articles, such as a chassis of a taped diaper or a pant diaper including a topsheet, a backsheet, and an absorbent core, for example, are applied to one or more moving webs of components, such as webs of front and rear belt portions, for example, using transfer members of a transfer assembly. Often, a speed at which the discrete articles are fed onto the transfer assembly is not the same as a speed of a carrier member on which the moving webs of components are situated. Thus, the speed of the discrete articles should generally be changed by the transfer assembly to match, or closely match, the speed of the one or webs of components being conveyed over the carrier member to properly join the discrete articles to the one or more webs of components without adversely affecting the process or a finished product produced by the process. In some instances, the discrete articles may also need to be turned (e.g., about 90 degrees) and repitched by the transfer assembly after pickup from the cutting device and before placement onto the webs conveyed over the carrier member. A transfer assembly may rotate about an axis of rotation and may include a plurality of transfer members rotatable about an axis of rotation.
In some processes, a nip is formed between the carrier member and each transfer member in order to apply a force to the discrete article sufficient to join each discrete article advancing on a transfer member with the moving web. However, the surface of the transfer member may have a different shape than the surface of the carrier member. As a result, the force applied at the nip may vary over time, and portions of the transfer member may cause intermittent spikes in force at the nip. Consequently, the increase in force may cause accelerated wear to the transfer assembly that requires relatively frequent changeover of worn parts. Additionally, the changes in force may result in a non-uniform bond between the discrete component and the moving web.
Thus, it would be beneficial to provide an apparatus for transferring discrete articles to a moving web by applying a relatively low and substantially uniform force at a nip between a transfer assembly and a carrier member.